


No good at first impressions

by Multifandom_damnation



Category: X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Adorable Kurt Wagner, Awkward Conversations, Charles Being Concerned, Erik Has Feelings, Forced Bonding, Gen, Prayer, Religious Discussion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-26
Updated: 2019-09-26
Packaged: 2020-10-28 11:15:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20777657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multifandom_damnation/pseuds/Multifandom_damnation
Summary: A socially awkward German and a skittish Jewish man meet in the garden after the world ends and neither of them really know what's going to happen, except that one of them is very bad at first impressions and the other has a fear of people.Does it go well? Probably not. But there's always a maybe.





	No good at first impressions

Erik found him in the garden, praying.

He was a strange little creature, in Erik’s, and probably many others, humble opinion. Deep blue skin coated with a liberal scattering of soft fur and the skin of his face carved with intricate markings that Erik wasn’t entirely sure were part of his mutation. He was lacking digits, both in fingers and toes, and the ones he did have were strange- thick and bulky and didn’t look like they could be used for anything. His tail waved lazily behind him, a pure extension of his self.

Everyone knew what he could do, of course. He looked harmless, but Erik knew differently. He had seen him in battle and knew that when he needed to be, he was absolutely deadly. Erik had once considered recruiting him to his cause, but he was too mild-mannered for that kind of bloodshed, especially of his own people.

His name was the Nightcrawler, and Erik knew that without hearing it from Charles. Anyone who had been anywhere near Germany had heard of the circus that employed the famous acrobat the Incredible Nightcrawler, but Erik had never anticipated the name to belong to someone no more than a boy.

But Erik knew that his real name was Kurt. Kurt Wagner. And he might have been the nicest German that Erik had ever met.

He hadn’t noticed him yet, so Erik walked forward, and it was almost when he was nearly upon him that he cleared his throat and the other man spun around to face him with a squeak at the back of his throat. “Oh,” he said, slowly standing up. “It’s you.”

“It is,” Erik replied. “What are you doing out here all alone, young one?”

Kurt looked a little uncomfortable, his tail twisting up around his ankles, but he licked his lips and answered, “Sometimes being in the manor is... hard. Too many people. I like to pray with only my voice in my head. I like the garden. It’s quiet and private, and I get to feel connected to my faith more so than around other students.”

“Understandable,” Erik replied, looking at the space over Kurt’s head and the vast fields beyond. “I too often find the common riff-raff of that school to be... too much.”

Licking his lips, Kurt turned away, looking like a wild animal trapped in a corner by a feral beast. “Did you... need something?”

“Yes, actually,” Erik said. “I’ve realized that out of all you... children, you are the one that intrigues me most, but you are the only one I haven’t actually interacted with.” Kurt was slowly backing away, wanting to run but not wanting to be rude, and Erik just sighed. “I’m not going to hurt you, child.” He stuck out his hand.

Tentatively, Kurt reached out to shake it, his three large fingers fitting strangely in Erik’s. “I’m Kurt,” he said. “The people, they call me Night-”

“The Incredible Nightcrawler,” Erik interrupted, a little pleased at the look of shock that passed over Kurt’s face. “I’ve heard many things about you. I wanted to go see your show the last time I was in Germany, but I, unfortunately, had... more pressing matters to deal with.”

Kurt didn’t really know what that meant. “Right.” It was true he didn’t know what was going on, but the fabled Magneto wasn’t trying to kill him yet, so that must have counted for something. “Uh, it’s not a very big show. People like me, because they get to point and laugh, so the circus had to put me up high- even the strongest couldn’t throw anything at me from up there.”

“Of course,” Erik said. “I’m sure your appearance must have been the point of contention more so than some of your brethren.” He tried to be gentle, but really, how could he be gentle when talking about appearance to a boy who looks like a devil? “But your show or your looks is not actually what I wanted to talk to you about.” Kurt looked at him strangely as he crossed his arms behind his back.

“That is usually all anyone wants to talk about,” Kurt said. He looked a little shy when he continued. “I will not lie and say that the change... would not be welcomed.”

Erik nodded. He understood. “You’re faith,” he continued. “I am told that it is stronger than average. That you dedicate your life and soul to the lord more than anything else in this world.”

At the mention of his faith, Kurt’s eyes lit up, and Erik saw brightness in him that he had never seen before. “Of course,” Kurt beamed. “He looks after all His children, just as we are to look after Him, and each other.”

In his lifetime, Erik had been through quite a lot, and he never could quite understand the faith some people held in an imaginary man above the clouds. But while he was somewhat extreme in his views, he was a decent enough man not to tell such a young man that his faith meant nothing.

But that wasn’t what Erik had wanted to talk about. “The way you had fought, on the train... it was very unlike you. It was brutal, almost. Merciless. It was a pleasant reminder that you are not just a means of quick transportation.”

Kurt looked uncomfortable. “I don’t know why they killed that man, and I don’t know why they were attacking us but... I couldn’t let them hurt anyone else. I couldn’t let anyone else die. I did what I had to do.”

“Of course,” Erik said. “Though I must admit, while it was unexpected it was... familiar.”

It was almost a mirror image of the way an old friend of Erik’s had fought more than a lifetime ago, with demon skin and razor tail and the ability to disappear in smoke. The only difference between Azazel and Kurt was the skin colour and the fact that Kurt was a better man than Azazel could ever hope to be. But, Erik considered, the blue skin could be explained if the rumours he had heard were true. “You fought like an old friend,” he explained when Kurt started looking nervous. “That’s all. It was a nice memory.”

Nodding, Kurt twisted his hands together. “Ah, right. Uh, I just did what I had to do.”

“Teleporting that woman in front of the train,” Erik continued, impressed. “Nice touch. I didn’t think you had it in you.”

“Neither did I,” Kurt laughed, and it was a gentle sound. Like wind chimes a moment before a storm. “She just... she hurt that man when she didn’t need to, so hurting her back in return was the least I could do,” he looked embarrassed. “It was fun, though. It felt good to...” he trailed off.

Erik filled in the blanks. “To let loose?” Kurt jerked his head up to look at him. “I know. After holding in all the things you’ve felt for so long, it must have been good to lash out at people who deserve it. You fought well, for never having done it before. It was... impressive to say the least.”

Shirking back, Kurt rubbed at his arms. He certainly was a skittish young man. “Uh... thanks. I don’t know what happened. He was dead in my arms, even though he let us go when I asked him to. She didn’t need to kill him. She...” he gulped as if he couldn’t believe what he was saying. “She got what she deserved.”

Nodding, Erik looked past him, over his head and at the tree line. “I remember how you fought, back when we were captured. Well- _fought _isn’t the right word. You were more used as a... mule. A means of rapid transportation. How did that make you feel?”

Shrugging, Kurt kicked at the ground. “I was happy to do whatever I was needed for. If it meant getting the Professor inside the building or helping Scott outrun someone, I was there.”

“Yes,” Erik said, looking Kurt over. “I saw that. You certainly are a very generous young man.” Erik tilted his head. He couldn’t believe the next words were about to come out of his mouth. “I believe you might be the kindest German I have ever met.”

It was like a switch being hit. Kurt’s blue face paled and he took a few rapid steps back, eyes wide and frightened, his tail tied into a knot behind him. He almost tripped over a fallen log in his haste. “I uh- I’m sorry, I need to go.” And then he was, blue mist dissipating where he once was.

“Well,” said a voice from behind him, both impressed and disappointed. “That was going quite well until you brought up his heritage.”

Pinching his nose, Erik turned around to face Charles, who had rolled his wheelchair through the brush and who was now leaning on one arm while looking at Erik with an expression of plain exasperation. “What are you doing here, Charles?”

Charles looked slightly offended. “I was the one who suggested you come and meet the boy. Why wouldn’t I be here to see if it all played out smoothly?”

“I just assumed you would mind your own business,” Erik made to walk away. “Oh well, I tried, nothing I can do now.”

Sighing heavily, Charles turned his chair around as Erik passed him. “Why did you bring up him being German? I doubt he knows your past, Erik, but I’m sure he’s had to endure some rather nasty comments about it in his lifetime, especially due to the way he looks. There was no need for that.”

“I was being sincere,” Erik retorted. “He _is_ the nicest German I have ever met. I was beginning to believe that there were none. How was I supposed to know he would take it like that?”

“You’re obnoxious,” Charles muttered. Erik ignored him. Louder, he said. “You have to go find him. You must. You can’t just leave him like that.”

Erik made a face. “Why?”

“Because I know Kurt, though I admit, probably not as well as I should,” Charles wheeled his chair closer to Erik, who had paused at the clearing to the garden, about to leave. “He’s sensitive. He’s kind. He’s honest. If you tell him a secret, he’ll keep it, and if you confide in him something he’ll take it to heart. The same is to be said for nasty comments- you meant well, Erik, but Kurt probably feels terrible. I know how bad you are at first impressions, but you can’t leave this one the way you have. I’m sorry, you can’t. I won’t let you.”

Grinding his back teeth, Erik let Charles wheel his way out of the garden and back into the safety of the school grounds, and wondered when he was going to stop doing what Charles told him to. 

Kurt was a little harder to find this time but not by much. Erik found him high up in a tree, feet and tail hooked securely around it, praying feverously. Erik watched him for a moment before he grew impatient. “Are you going to come down?” he asked. “It’s rather boring down here.”

The praying stopped and Erik heard Kurt suck in a startled breath. He sighed. “I know you’re up there.”

Slowly, reluctantly, Kurt crept down from where he was hiding so he was floating a little above the ground, hanging upside down by his tail by from the tree. “Have you come to hurt me?” Kurt asked quietly and Erik tried not to sigh.

“No,” he said. “I’ve come to apologise. And to give you this,” he held out his hand and presented Kurt what used to be a mangled piece of metal but was now an intricate and ornate decoration with twists and turns and bent pieces of steel that moved when you turned the key. Kurt looked at it with wide eyes and Erik floated it up to him. “Here, take it.”

Kurt reached out and wrapped his fingers around the gift, looking at it in amazement for a moment, before turning the key and watching it rotate and spin. He laughed, and suddenly he was no longer hanging from the tree but on the ground with Erik, cross-legged in the dirt surrounded by blue smoke. “Wow,’ Kurt said, mostly to himself, as he turned the key again. “Wow.” He glanced up, grinning. “Thank you.”

Erik couldn’t help but smile. Kurt’s joy was infectious. “Enjoy,” he said. “And don't let anyone ever tell you who or what you are.”

He turned away and walked back to the mansion with his hands in his pockets, and left Kurt alone in the woods with his new toy and his excitement. Erik felt... _good_.


End file.
